Satirical Frame of Mind: Ken Kalfus’s A Disorder Peculiar to the Country and the Literary Engagement with 9/11
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2 août 2017
- doi: 10.4000/ejas.12067
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Mots-clés
Contemporary American novel satire terrorism 9/11 Ken Kalfus political comedy American identity critical practiceSujets proches
Humor, satire, etc Cartoons, satire, etc Jokes Anecdotes, facetiae, satire, etc Satire Comic literatureCiter ce document
Katherina Dodou, « Satirical Frame of Mind: Ken Kalfus’s A Disorder Peculiar to the Country and the Literary Engagement with 9/11 », European journal of American studies, ID : 10.4000/ejas.12067
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Prompted by debates on the role of comedy in the USA after 9/11, the essay explores the use of satire as one important narrative strategy that emerged in the subgenre of the American 9/11 novel. Criticism of 9/11 fiction tends to regard literary satire as a device used to counter governing descriptions of twenty-first century terrorism. By way of Ken Kalfus’s A Disorder Peculiar to the Country (2006), I show how literary satire on 9/11 is neither straightforward nor merely a means of political attack. Drawing on recent satire theory that views the satirical mode as unruly, various, and open-ended, I suggest that a closer look to the mixed intentions of this novel presents an opportunity to explore the dynamic between denunciation and comic relief in literary satire on 9/11 and opens the way for a more complex understanding of the operation and affordances of literary 9/11 satire.